Local Government I

General data

Course ID:	1900-5AST1
Erasmus code / ISCED:	14.6 Kod klasyfikacyjny przedmiotu składa się z trzech do pięciu cyfr, przy czym trzy pierwsze oznaczają klasyfikację dziedziny wg. Listy kodów dziedzin obowiązującej w programie Socrates/Erasmus, czwarta (dotąd na ogół 0) – ewentualne uszczegółowienie informacji o dyscyplinie, piąta – stopień zaawansowania przedmiotu ustalony na podstawie roku studiów, dla którego przedmiot jest przeznaczony. / (0312) Political sciences and civics The ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) code has been designed by UNESCO.
Course title:	Local Government I
Name in Polish:	Samorząd terytorialny I
Organizational unit:	Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies
Course groups:
ECTS credit allocation (and other scores):	(not available) Basic information on ECTS credits allocation principles: the annual hourly workload of the student’s work required to achieve the expected learning outcomes for a given stage is 1500-1800h, corresponding to 60 ECTS; the student’s weekly hourly workload is 45 h; 1 ECTS point corresponds to 25-30 hours of student work needed to achieve the assumed learning outcomes; weekly student workload necessary to achieve the assumed learning outcomes allows to obtain 1.5 ECTS; work required to pass the course, which has been assigned 3 ECTS, constitutes 10% of the semester student load. view allocation of credits
Language:	Polish
Type of course:	obligatory courses
Mode:	Classroom
Short description:	This course, together with "Local Governemnt II", helps to understand the local government system in Poland and its importance for functioning of the contemporary state. Students learn what are the most important benefits of functional decentralization and what are the bacis characteristics of the local democracy. They learn what is the position of local governments in the Polish system, what is the territorial organization, local election system and the most important functions delivered by sub-national jurisdtictions.
Full description:	I. The scope of topics discussed during the lectures 1. The main notions related to local governments: decentralization, deconcentration, symetric and asymetric decetralization, subsidiarity, federal and unitary systems, core values of local governments 2. The main elements of the Polish local government legal system 3. Supervision over local governments' activity: the role of the central government, governonr, Regional Audit Chambers. 4. Territorial organization - evolution after 1945, debates about further changes 5. Local democracy in Poland - local election, local referendum, results of local elections after 1990, the role of political parties 6. Executive powers and local administration 7. Service functions provided by local governments; the role of individual functions in budget expenditures 8. Absorption of EU funds by Polish local governments II. Classes. The aim of classes is to help students to understand the practical aspects of local governments functioning. Both theoeretical issues and their practical applications are discussed. The list of discussed topics include: (1) e-governance (is there local e-government in Poland? What are strengths and threates of using interent by local governments), (2) the size issue - what are advantages of territorial fragmentation and consolidation? Local democracy and participation vs economic effectiveness, (3) Bduget as a mirror of local governments. The most important sources of revenues and expenditure structure. (4) comparing local governemnts (sources of information, interpretation of statistical data), (5) representative democracy and participatory mechanisms (dillemas of participation, direct democracy, tools for community involvement), (6) is local government necessary in the modern state? Pros and cons of decentralization. Classes have a form of a discussion, based on suggested readings or a form of oral presentations prepared by students. Students prepare short essays, read suggested literature. Preparation fo the homework is often required. Some of tasks have a form of group work.
Bibliography:	(in Polish) M. Kulesza (2008) Budowanie samorządu, Warszawa: Municipium H. Izdebski (2004) Samorząd terytorialny: podstawy ustroju i działalności, Warszawa: LexisNexis Misiąg W., Mackiewicz M., Tomalak M., Malinowska E., 2006, Budżet i finanse 2006. Poradnik dla samorządowców, Municipium, Warszawa Sakowicz M., 2007, Modernizacja samorządu terytorialnego w procesie integracji Polski z UE, Wyd. SGH, Warszawa P.Swianiewicz (2009) „Reformy konsolidacji terytorialnej – teoria i praktyka krajów Europy Środkowo – Wschodniej” (Samorząd Terytorialny 4/2009), P. Swianiewicz (2010) „Czy rozmiar ma znaczenie? Zróżnicowanie opinii mieszkańców o funkcjonowaniu samorządów lokalnych w zależności od wielkości gminy” (Samorząd Terytorialny nr 4/2010), Swianiewicz P., 2001, Życzliwa obojętność, wyd. Krzysztof Kleszcz, Warszawa, str. 67-71 Swianiewicz P., 2004, Finanse lokalne, Municipium, Warszawa (rozdz. 1) Swianiewicz P., 2006, „Wirtualny samorząd i demokracja lokalna”, Samorząd terytorialny, 4 Swianiewicz. P.; Herbst M., 2002, „Korzyści i niekorzyści skali w polskich samorządach”, Samorząd Terytorialny 6 Swianiewicz P., Klimska U., Mielczarek A., 2004, Nierówne koalicje, Scholar, Warszawa (rozdz. 2.3.) Debata „Między zniechęceniem a lenistwem”, Nowe Państwo nr 11/2002
Learning outcomes:	After the course the student: -knows the main element of the local government system in Poland (including territorial organization, intergovernmental relations, rules of local elections, functions provided by local governments) - is able to discuss the im[portance of local government for contemporary, democratic state
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:	Final grade is based on assessment of students' performance during the classes. It takes into account: - participation in the classes; - forms of active participation; - quality of written and oral presentations - short tests checking the required knowledge, including the final test 75% of the final grade depens on active participation and presentations, while 25% on the final test.

This course is not currently offered.

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